Platform type shoe



Jan. 25, 1949.

R. M ALING PLATFORM TYPE SH OE 2 sheets-Sheet 1 I Fiied May 15, 194

Jan. 25, 1949; R. MALING 2,460,098

PLATFORM TYPE SHOE Filed May 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 far i Patented Jan. 25, 1949 UNIT so stares TENT OFFICE;

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rLA'rroRM TYrEsnoE.

} Roy Maling. Chestnut Hill, Mass; Assncanmtiatia, 19%;..seeaiNannies:v

6 Claims; (01. ac-m5) cluding-'- a novel tread element, with an upper.

Conventional heel" constructions having flat under or tread surfaees and abrupt generally vertically extending: sideand: rear edges rising ironr. the plane of. the under fiatzsurface, invoive an; initialzpointacontactof the heeliwith apavemerit or'floor in theprocess of walking; Ordinarily the rear-lower edge of the heel is: semicircular, and the normal. angular: walking ape of foot toward: contactv results: in the mentioned. initial contact only atone point along the: semi-oiroularlowe1t rearede. of; the heel. The contactrelatively, quicklyenlarges;v and spreadsasgthe-fioot rocks about the initial corrtaet. point: until thatuli area. of the: underxfiat surface oi, the heeL ultimately, rests onthe, paves ment or floor. Immediately following, the initial, contact, however; the foot! is; free: torock sideways, insor'out, on; the: semi-circular lower rear edge of the heel Also,,. thepointof initial contacttakesthebrunt oie wear imposed on a conventional" heel, and such a heel gradually wears; at andadjacent to, the point. ofinitial contact and; eventually acquires a more orless rounded rear. edge contour whereby thesubsequent initial. contacts become line; contacts. followed byaslight forward rolling moti0n;on.-. the roundedsu-ri ace of theheeL The mentioned. characteristics. of conventional heels have. long. beenv recognized, and there have been various. proposalsdirected toward stabilizing the initial. contact of a heel. inwalking and utilizing therolling-lineecontact principle which-the rounded. edge contours oiworn heels. have suggested. It has been proposed. tov provide the. con.-

ventional. type. of." heel. with. a. rounded. lower. rear edge portionso. that the heel initially would. be adapted to provide initialline. contact. when walliing, followediby a rolling motion of the. foot .iorwardly and downwardly into full. contact. with a pavement or floor. The mentioned-prior proposals, however, have not met with favor in. the industry, and the conventional heels, without any rounded rear, lower edges. continue, to be. quite universally used; The practise offproviding rubber heels. or leather heel'liitsg whichmay beread- 2. ily: and quioklx replaced: atsmall cost, has mini-.- mized; and rendered; relatively unimportant; the fact thatweart-orr conventional heels-is concert.- tr-ated at the :rear lower ed ge region.

But, the present. daywideuseoi socalled platform and; wedge-heel: types of; footwear; has. focused the attention oiz manuiact-urers; of: such iootwear on. the; wearing; characteristics at; the heel regions. thereof... This; eeneral-..type.oi foot;- wear ordinarily; has avrelatively; thick platform or, mid-sole intervening between: the: upper and the outsole, and the; outsole. or tread element cnstomar-ilvisga reiatively; thin and flexible; sheet of .eather secured in covering.- relationtothe underside oi the platiorm-or midrsole. Theplatform or mid-sole conventionallyhasitseide edges covered with 'fahr-ic, or; the. like, and this; relatively delicate covering material extends; down to the mentioned: thin outsole element. Hence any substantial uneven wear of the outsole element. causes. the; adjacent covering material to be lowered to an extent whichirequentl-vsubjects it to, contactwith.arpavementor floor; withresulting. quick destruction, oi. the platform cover,- inematerial.

Inasmuch aathe outsole elements otsuchfootwear extend from the toe-to the rear end. oi the shoe andare unitarily. builtintothe shoe structime at thetime. of. manufacture, itusually is impracticable to replace an outsole. Hence,,excessive concentrated wear at. the rear edge portion. of theserelatively: thin. outsol-es, which. also provide. the tread surface: at. the heel regions, materially reduces. the useiul. life: of. they shoes. While the prior rounding of conventional heels has. sug e ted. that. a comparable rounding; of the lower rear edge portions of platforms: and wedg heelsmight prolong the. useiul lite of the shoes, serious problems have been involved to satisfactorily. embody the. curving heel tread: idea inthe platform. and wedgeeheel. types; of footwean. When. the. outsole member isextended to surface a. curved rear. portion of heel unit the covering material has been inadequate for holding, the extension under. the stresses. at use; of a shoe. Also, there have been. problems: to provide an .efiective. composite covering. of. the. rear portionsofsuchaheel. v

It. is among theobj ectsoimy present invention to, provide'a wedge-type heel structure for shoes andislippers wherein. a wedge-heel body is shaped atits under sideand. rear portions. for. seating a fiexiblersheet outsole. element, and. said; outsole element has generally, flat, extent. under. the

i wedge-heel'bodywith. a rear extension part curvfeatures of the invention;

element and covering strip the platform and heel unit;

of the unit of Fig. 14.

ing rearwardly and upwardly over rear portions of the body and turned inward at its end portion to an anchoring position overlying the'top rear margin of the body, and wherein the side and rear structure wherein a flexible outsole element sur-.- faces the under side of a wedge-heel body and curves rearwardly and upwardly in surfacing relation to rear portions of said body, withan-end portion foldable inward over the rear top margin of the body for anchored engagement between the Wedge-heel body and an upper structure to be mounted thereon.

Still another object is to provide a wedge-heel structure having a wear-resisting tread surface at the under side of a wedge-heel body and extendin smoothly rearwardly and'upwardly over rear portions of the body, and having relatively delicate sheet material covering the side edges of the body forward of said rearwardly and upwardly extendingwear-resisting surface.

It is, moreover, my purpose and object generally to improve platform and wedge-heel types of footwear and more especially such footwear having relatively thin and flexible outsole elements.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a shoe embodying Fig. 2 is a medial longitudinal cross-sectional View of the'shoe of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a Fig. 1; r P Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the rear portion'of the shoe of Figs. 1-4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rear under side of the shoe of Figs.'15, with the rear extension part of the outsole pulled'away;

Fig.7 is a side elevation of a modified form 'of platform and heel unit;

Fig. 8 is a rear: elevation of the unit of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view on line 99 of Fig.7;

Fig. 10 is .a medial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the unitof Figs. 7-9 with a tread applied thereto, and outline mounted on rear elevational view of the shoe of showing an upper in dotted Fig. 11 is a rear elevationof the covered unit ofFig.10;;

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view on line of Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 12 but showing another modification;

Fig. 14 is a rear elevation, similar to Fig. 11, but showing the modified structure of Fig. 13;

and

Fig. 15 is a top'plan View of the rear portion Shoes of the general type to-which the invention relates may have so-called force-lasted or slip-lasted uppers, or their uppersmay be regularly lasted. {A force-lasted upper has its upper stitched to a sock-liningor comparable element,

'while the upper is free of a last, and a last subsequently is forced into this pre-stitched unit preparatory to association of the upper with a base structure. When the base structure inis cemented to the under side of the platform element.

According to another well known procedure, the side edges of a platform element are covered before the platform is associated with an upper. This may be done by wrapping a covering strip over the side edges of the platform, with edge portions of the strip turned inward over and cemented to both top and bottom margins of the platform, or the covering strip preliminarily may be stitched to a flexible outsole member, so that the platform may be set within this pro-stitched unit, after which the covering strip is drawn over the side edges of the platform and turned inward over and cemented to the upper margin of the platform.

My present invention is applicable to platform and wedge-heel types of footwear made accordingto eitherof the above described procedures, and it is herein illustratedas it may be embodied in the products of each procedure. 7

Referring to the embodiment of Figs. 1-6, the covered platform and heel unit l0 may be of any suitable material and may be formed as a single element or may be composite of two or more elements associated together to provide a unit having generally the shape as shown wherein the forepart portion has generally uniform thickness and the rear or heel portion has substantially greater thickness gradually'tapering at the shank region to provide support under the arch of a foot. The unit Ill may be made of felted fibre, cork, or combinations of fibre and cork, or it may be composite of felt and wood, for example. In any case, it is preferable to have'a material or materials which will provide a resilient cushion effect under thefoot of the wearer of the shoe.

to the upper and sock-lining around the forepart, and the covering strip |8 is stitched to the socklining around the rear portions of the shoe where there is no upper, as at 2t]. A last subsequently is forced into this pre-stitched upper unit, after which the platform and heel unit Ill is placed against the sock-lining and the covering strip [3 wrapped over the sides of the unit I 0 and turned inward over and cemented to the under margin of the unit l8. A flexible outsole 22 then is cemented to the under side of the unit).

According tothe invention, the rear portion of the unit It] is formed with a gradually curving rear surface 24 whose curvature is smoothly continuous from the plane of the under surface'of the'heel portion of the unit, curving gradually upwardly and rearwardly to the g'eneralplane f the upper surfaceof the heel portion of the unit.

accents 15 I Because this surface 2'1 curves upwardlyand rearwardlyon the'heel'portion of-uni-t Ill which, at the rearof its-heel portion-hasgenerall-y semicircular shape in plan; the surface ui'constitutes a" smooth-continuationof the: under surface of the heel portion of uniting with gradually diminishing widthtowardithe plane of the top surface of the unit, as bestseeniri Fig. 3. Hence; in covering the rear' portions of' the unit lit" thecovering strip E8? conveniently'may terminate, at each side of the heel; somewhat short ofthe-longitudinal center -line of the shoe, with the rear end portions. of the strip wraripedtoverthe sides of the heel and turned overand cemented to the marginsv oi the rear" surface 2'4; as at Fig. 6.

Thisfacilitatesr a. smooth covering of side and rearportions ofunit' ll! by the covering strip; ill, leaving a. substantialsportiorroi the surface ziizuncovered by strip E8; all the way up the. back. of

mitt-; The-outso-Ie 22; has a. reanend' tapering. extensiorrlih'which isadaptedto be cementedin covering relation toothecurvedsurface 24 of unit. in; with:a.terminal.part 25 whiehis adapted tobe turned inwardzover the rear'topmargin of; unit l where it is cemented or otherwise anchored to theunit l0; Preferably a slit 28 is provided adjacent the rear endof thesock-lin-ing l6, and the terminal part 25;.-of the'outsole extension isv inserted through the: slit-so that. its main inward extentris-underthe sock-lining, as best seenin Figs.v 2: and- 5. The. anchoring of the terminal part 25in. a. generalplane tov be securely held between the upper and. the. platform and. heel unit Hi relievesthecement lines between the. outsole and. unit I-B,at the rear of the shoe, of much of. the. stress acting to pullthe curving rear-outsolev extension away from theunit Linuse of the shoe. Also,.the smoothly curving and tapering. outsole extensionprovides a distinctive and attractiveaspect at therear of the shoe, aswell as providing. asmoothly curving continuation. of the. tread surface. of the. heel. whereby a' rolling contact is attained when theshoe initially contacts a. floor or. pavement, .in walking. And this rollingcontact is spread across the full. width. of the outsole surface at the region of contact, avoiding the lateral rocking tendency, inward or outward; which is a prevalent occurrence with conventional heels.

Figs. 7-12 illustrate the invention as it may be embodied in a modified form of shoe structure wherein the platform and heel unit 30 is covered and associated with an outsole, after which the completed base unit is cemented to a lasted upper. In this case, the upper 32 may be regularly lasted or force-lasted. The base unit 30, however, is set within a flexible sheet unit which is composite of a soft-sole outsole or tread element 34 and an edge-covering strip 36 which is preliminarily stitched to the tread element 34, as at 38. This stitching at 38 is accomplished while the strip and element are inside out, after which they are inverted so that the in-seam at 38 stands interiorly. The under edge margin of the unit 30 preferably is cut away to provide an angular space 40 around its under margin, for accommodating the in-seam, thereby permitting a smooth covering of unit 30, with the upper marginal portions of strip 36 turned inward over and cemented to the upper margin of unit 30 as shown at 4'2 in Figs, and 12.

The platform and heel unit 30 has a rear surface 44 curving smoothly upwardly and rearwardly from the plane of the under surface of 6 the heel" portion to a little below the" general plane-oi theupper surface. of theheel portion, comparable to. the surface. 2& of the: Figs; 1-6 f m, and the angular marginal: cue-back at- 4!! extends rearwardly and upwardly at 45 along the oppositesides or surface M.- 'Ehe tread element- 3'4 hasa gradually tapering rear extension 35 te: whoseopposite a side. edges the rear edges of cover strip 38 are-stitched toprovide'rear corrti-nuations of the-'i'n-seam 38 which seat in the ME, to enable a smoothcovering oi' the sides-and rear of the unit 3B; with upper marginal portions ofthe and extension turned inward over and cemented tothe upper rear'marginaI-portionsof unit 3%. Hence, as in. theFigs. 1-6 form, theirr-turned terminal portion of the tread extension 35' becomes securelyanchored in-a generally horizontal plane,- between the platformunit and the subsequently combinedupper so that stresses-of service tending to=- spread the extension away from unit 36 are successfully and effectively resisted ina structure having a tread surface extended iearwardiyto provides. rolling line contact of the shoe with a flooror-pavement, comparable to that described in connection with the Figs. 1-6 form.

Figs. 18-15- illu'strate amodification generally I similartothe Figs, 'li-l'zform but havinga; more rugged flexible outsole tfi which is stitched throughand through a-t tit to the. lower margins til-of the cover stripSZ-L. The outsole-has? a. rear eatension lim andaterminalpart; 55 whichdatter is inv-turnedmverr therear top. marginsolii the plat.- form: unit 5%,; and anchored between: said unit and: the upper; comparable-tattle inrturned an? chored. terminals. of the.- earlier; described forms. A. doublerow of stitches 48. is show-m extending all. along the. opposite. edges of the: outsole, its extension; 54' and. its terminal part 55. As in the other'form's, the extension 54- provides for rolling line; contact. whenthe shoe initially: contacts a .fi'oorron pavement: in:.walking'.

It; will be apparent from the foregoing descripti-on, connection. with the drawings that I have provided practical; platform type shoe. and slipper structures whose platform units can be smoothly covered-,, particularly atv rear portions, by. the joint spread-of a coveringstrip anda tread elementv or outsole, withthe tread element or outsolesmoothly. continuous; up the. back of the platform to a location of secure anchorage between the platform unit and an upper element or lasted structure.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shoe, an upper, a unit underlying the rear portion of the upper for constituting a heel; and having gradually diminishing tapering extent under the shank portion of the upper, said heel portion of the unit having a rearwardly facing surface curving gradually rearwardly and upwardly from the plane of the under surface of the heel portion approximately to the plane of the upper surface of the heel portion, flexible material covering the sides of said heel and shank portions of the unit, and a tread element covering the bottom of said heel and shank portions of the unit and having extent rearwardly and upwardly in covering relation to said rearwardly facing gradually curving surface of the unit, said flexible covering material extending rearwardly at least to said rearwardly and upwardly extending portion of the tread element whereby the latter said portion of the tread element and said flexible covering material together cover all rear surfaces of the said unit.

2. In: a shoe, an upper, a unit underlying the;

rear portion of the upper for constituting a heel, and having gradually diminishing tapering extent under the shank portion of the upper, saidv unit and having extent rearwardly and upwardly in covering relation to said rearwardly facing gradually curving surface of the unit, a line of stitching extending along each edge of the tread element securing the tread element to the lower marginal portion of said flexible covering material throughout the extent of said tread element at the shank and heel regions including its said extent rearwardly and upwardly at the rear of the shoe. a

3. In a shoe, an upper, a unit underlying the rearportion of the upper for constituting a heel, and having gradually-diminishing tapering extent under the shank portion of the upper, said heel portion of the unit having a rearwardly facing surface curving gradually rearwardly and upwardly from the plane of the under surface of the heel portion approximately to the plane of the upper surface of the'heel portion, flexible material covering the sides of said heel and shank portions of the unit, and a tread element covering the bottom of said heel and shank portions of the unit and having extent rearwardly and upwardly in covering relation to said rearwardly facing gradually curving surface of the unit, and having an end portion turned inward and secured between said upper and said underlying unit.

4. In a shoe having an upper and a wedge shaped heel unit underlying the upper at its shank and heel'regions, a tread element covering the under surface of said unit and having a generally tapering rear end portion turned upwardly in covering relation to the rear end of said unit and turned inward over the top rear margin of the unit to lie'between said upper and the unit, and flexible sheet material covering the sides of said unit with its upper marginal portions secured to said upper and with its lower marginal portions secured to the marginal edges of the tread element throughout the extent of the latter at the: shank and heel regions. ofthe shoe and along said tapering rear end portion of the tread element approximately to the plane of the top of said unit at the rear of the shoe.

5. In a shoe having an upper and a wedge shaped, heel unit underlying the upper at its shank and heel regions, a tread element covering the under surface of said unit and having agenerally tapering rear end portion turned upwardly in covering relation to the rear end of said unit and extending upwardly approximately to the plane of the top surface of'the unit at the rear its said covering relation to the rear end of said unit.

shaped platform unit. underlying the upper, means for covering all portions of the unit left exposed by the upper, comprising a wear-resisting tread element covering the under'surface of the unit and extending upwardly approximately to the plane of the top of the rear end of the unit, in covering relation to a substantial rearwardly facing surface of the unit, a flexible sheet element of more delicate texture having its lower marginal portions stitched to the edges of the tread element throughout the'extent of the latter at the shank and heel regions, including said upwardly'extending portion thereof at the rear of the unit, and having its upper marginal portions secured to the upper, said rearwardly facing surface of the unit which is covered by the tread elem-ent'having gradually curving extent rearwardly and upWardIy Whereby the tread surface at the rear of theshoe promotes a rolling contact in walking.

' ROY MAIJNG.

No references cited.

6. In a shoe having an upper and a wedge- 

